Red Bull KTM teammates Shane Esposito and David Pearson pulled off a relatively easy victory at last weekend’s Epic Racing Products Parker 250 in Parker, Arizona, round one in Best in the Desert’s Silver State Series.
After being first off the line, they were the first to complete the 74-mile loop on the factory-backed Michelin/Motorex/KTM Hard Equipment 530 XC, and Esposito discovered that the last of the UTVs had started not long before. Thus, he and Pearson had plenty of riding and passing in the dust to do.
“I was in the dust the whole time, so I was probably riding 50 percent is all,” Pearson said. “But I just rode consistent and brought the bike back to Shane, and Shane brought it to the finish so everything went good.”
Esposito added, “It was just a smooth, easy-going day – no problems.”
They finished the three laps in four hours, 34 minutes and 40 seconds.
Privateers filled the next few spots, with Dylan Lane and Jeff Trulove taking runner-up in 4:42:55 on their North County House of Motorcycles/Zyntel Motorsports/Parents CRF450X they received just a week before.
“The first loop when I got on the bike, we worked our way past [Red Bull KTM’s] David Kamo and settled in for second, pretty much stayed there all day,” Lane said.
Anthony Modica and Jason Trubey finished third overall and topped a large contingent of Four-Stroke Pros on their Z Racing/IMS/Moose KTM 525 XC in 4:45:38.
A pair of Senior-class racers on the comeback trail claimed fourth overall and first in Over 40 Pro. Paul Krause returned from an injury-plagued 2007 and teamed with Kent Pfeiffer to finish in 4:56:02 despite having to stop for a few minutes to rejet their Malcolm Smith Motorsports/Bridgestone/FMF KTM 530 XC.
Brother Kelly and Scott Fisher bumped up to the Pro ranks for the first time and rounded out the top five overall, taking the Over 30 Pro victory in 4:56:21 on their Team Tuna Racing/Pocatello Powersports/Remax KTM 525 XC.
